Lignin valorization is of great importance to improve overall biorefinery economics but very challenging due to the relatively poor solubility of lignin in most solvents. In this work, we demonstrated, for the first time, that the rapid room temperature solubilization of lignin at high solid loadings (&gt;30 wt%) can be easily achieved in a single step using ethylene glycol (EG). In addition, the solubilized lignin can be rapidly and quantitatively recovered with the addition of ethanol. Detail computational and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic studies confirm that strong hydrogen bond interactions between EG and the free hydroxyl groups present in lignin contribute to the high lignin dissolution. As a potential application of this room temperature solubilization property of lignin in EG, hydrogen peroxide mediated depolymerization of the dissolved lignin at a low temperature (80 °C) was tested and the effect of EG molecules on depolymerization of lignin was also studied theoretically. The findings of this work provide mechanistic insights of hydrogen bond interactions in high lignin solubilization and depolymerization.<br/>

Rapid room temperature solubilization and depolymerization of polymeric lignin at high loadings

254th National Meeting (2017)

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